A need exists in many applications for improved digital holography systems and methods. For example, digital holography may be used to identify and assess surface defects or other characteristics in various types of equipment or other objects, as well as in other applications such as manufacturing, measurement, metrology, entertainment, and archiving. Holographic information can be more useful than two dimensional (2D) imagery that captures only intensity information, as various features of an imaged object may not be apparent in 2D images of the object.